Depressive symptoms in women seeking surgery for pelvic organ prolapse

Introduction and hypothesis: To compare depressive symptoms in women with and without prolapse and evaluate impact on quality of life. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a case-control study assessing the effect of prolapse on body image. Cases had prolapse and sought surgery (Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification stage ≥2). Controls had stage ≥1. Subjects completed the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ), Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) at baseline. Cases completed measures 6 months post-operatively. We report: (1) the comparison of cases and controls at baseline and (2) comparison of baseline and post-operative scores in cases. Results: Baseline questionnaires were completed by 75 cases and 65 controls; 57 cases completed post-operative measures. Cases were 5-fold more likely than controls to have depressive symptoms. Cases with depressive symptoms had higher PFIQ scores than cases without symptoms. PHQ-9 scores improved post-operatively. Conclusions: Depressive symptoms are common in women with prolapse and a decrease following surgical treatment.